Rear end whine

My 2002 6 spd.with 82000 miles is developing a whine from what seems to be the rear. I get it above 60mph and when the drive system is slightly pulling but not on acceleration or deceleration. Happens in 5th and 6th gear. Put Red Line fluids in tranny and differential about 30.000 miles ago. The whine seems to be getting slightly louder over time. It's not loud - just annoying and new. Ideas?

My 2002 6 spd.with 82000 miles is developing a whine from what seems to be the rear. I get it above 60mph and when the drive system is slightly pulling but not on acceleration or deceleration. Happens in 5th and 6th gear. Put Red Line fluids in tranny and differential about 30.000 miles ago. The whine seems to be getting slightly louder over time. It's not loud - just annoying and new. Ideas?

This is a classic symptom of ring and pinion gears making noise. The noise happens around 65-70 mph in overdrives. If you can't live with it, time for new gears.

Both my Trans Am GT and my C5 Anniversary Edition (both with T-56 and 3.42 gears) have whinned at highway speeds. Seems I was told that it was the tranny that was the culprit, but I cannot remember. Mine have not increased in volume ever, so I am just going to live with it.....or turn the stereo up louder. LOL

Yes the ring and pinion are the cause. I swapped a 3.42 diff out of a Z06 into my 99 A4 and found out why they removed it. It whines badly all the time. If you can live with it, it doesn't hurt anything. If not, upgrade time

Most gear whines are on the load (accelerating) side. Usually the noise is gone during coasting or decel. The noise is similar to a straight cut gears in a transmission.

I have a noise that is kind of opposite of this. Most noticeable on cruise, only slightly noticeable on acceleration, completely gone on deceleration. All after it's warmed up and at operating temp. I haven't figured it out yet.

I have a noise that is kind of opposite of this. Most noticeable on cruise, only slightly noticeable on acceleration, completely gone on deceleration. All after it's warmed up and at operating temp. I haven't figured it out yet.

I should have been more specific. The noise is most evident on part throttle acceleration (10-30% throttle). The noise disappears under hard acceleration and decel.

This is a classic symptom of ring and pinion gears making noise. The noise happens around 65-70 mph in overdrives. If you can't live with it, time for new gears.

Why does this happen? and in my case only or mostly in 6th gear?
not enough 'load' on the gears,
geez i only have 40,000 mi (2004 year ) and it's been getting worse very annoying like others have said.

Why does this happen? and in my case only or mostly in 6th gear?
not enough 'load' on the gears,
geez i only have 40,000 mi (2004 year ) and it's been getting worse very annoying like others have said.

They say its from improper backlash of the ring and pinion. I find it had to believe that so many mistakes were made from the factory as this happens to so many people. I think that hard driving and abuse causes the gears to form a bad wear pattern. An improper break in and or allot of spirited driving will wipe out the gear teeth surface and make them noisy.

Im not sure that "spirited" driving would be the cause of this. It is a Corvette after all and spirited driving is what the car was made for. I am new to this forum but I have been doing alot of research on the C5 Vettes. A Corvette with 40k miles on it should not have gear noise (unless maybe they ran it dry of lube at LeMans) I think maybe this was a Factory flaw that went unnoticed.

Im not sure that "spirited" driving would be the cause of this. It is a Corvette after all and spirited driving is what the car was made for. I am new to this forum but I have been doing alot of research on the C5 Vettes. A Corvette with 40k miles on it should not have gear noise (unless maybe they ran it dry of lube at LeMans) I think maybe this was a Factory flaw that went unnoticed.

It may be in some cases, but if you stick around this forum awhile you will find that gear noise is a problem for way to many C5 owners to be factory flaws. The words "spirited driving" to me and (and "allot of spirited driving" at that) to me means the guys that are constantly on the throttle or brakes. The gears never have a chance to form a smooth wear pattern which leads to a surface that whines.
The Corvette is still a car made from the same parts as any other Chevy V8. Harsh driving will lead to owning a harshly driven car that shows it like any other car.